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Re: Marijuana farming rebounds in economic hard times

Originally Posted by Catz Part Deux

We would almost definitely save money on the enforcement and punishment currently devoted to marijuana users, growers, and sellers. However, it's misleading to state that it would put the cartels out of business. They'd switch most of their business over to harder drugs, as they have done so in the past decade, such as methamphetamine. Anyone who thinks meth should be legalized for local production is an idiot.

The thing there is that oven if we only legalized marijuana, the market for the other drugs is already established, and will remain steady regardless.

They can try to saturate the market, but all that will do is drive their prices down, people are not going to suddenly decide "hey.. meth, coke, heroin.. hmm i should start doing that now that marijuana is legal."

Re: Marijuana farming rebounds in economic hard times

Distilling is illegal and people certainly DO do that to avoid costs. It takes months and years to make fermented beverages, so you can see why that's a disincentive.

As for tobacco, it's a LOT more difficult to grow. It doesn't have the nickname, "weed." People are starting to grow their own though now that taxes are getting ridiculous.

The only reason i can honestly want to grow my own is for hobby. There are simply better "pot growers" than myself, why not do what i do best, and then trade my dollars for their superior product?

It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion."Wealth of Nations," Book V, Chapter II, Part II, Article I, pg.911

Re: Marijuana farming rebounds in economic hard times

It's a weed how much tax are you going to get on something that, once legalized, anyone could grow in their backyard?

On second thought, we DO have store shelves filled with bottled tap water so maybe you can't 'misunderestimate' the power of marketing.

You go ahead and you smoke the "weed" that is left untended in the ground to grow without extended supervision. There is a reason that crappy marijuana is nicknamed "ditch weed"

A quality product must be carefully tended for, given the right amount and intervals of light and dark. Carefully pruned to kill of any male plants (which have no THC in them) and properly harvested and cured. It's a process that is very much in depth. If you want crappy product (that might not even contain thc) yeah, scatter a few seeds, see how well that works out!

Re: Marijuana farming rebounds in economic hard times

You go ahead and you smoke the "weed" that is left untended in the ground to grow without extended supervision. There is a reason that crappy marijuana is nicknamed "ditch weed"

A quality product must be carefully tended for, given the right amount and intervals of light and dark. Carefully pruned to kill of any male plants (which have no THC in them) and properly harvested and cured. It's a process that is very much in depth. If you want crappy product (that might not even contain thc) yeah, scatter a few seeds, see how well that works out!

While your defense that extended supervision is required is valid, it also contains a few inaccuracies.

The THC content is extremely dependent on the genetics of the plant. The reason "ditch weed" is so low in THC content is because they are remnants from when hemp was grown legally, and prolifically. Hemp is genetically predisposed to have an extremely low THC content.

Grown outdoors, the photo-period trigger to initiate flowering occurs naturally as the days grow longer with the changing of the seasons, this requires no supervision.

Aside from this, production of a bountiful crop will take supervision, removing the males, fertilizing, pruning ect. all will be required to provide a high quality yield.

To further bolster your point, in a post legalization world the vast majority of recreational cannabis will be grown in greenhouses. The main reason for this is because pollination of the females is extremely undesirable. If planted outdoors and left to mature the plants will get pollinated, and will produce seeds. Grown outdoors there is absolutely no way to prevent pollination.

The production of seeds will sap vital plant energy that would otherwise go towards fattening the buds and increasing yield.

More significantly, consumers will demand seedless, both from a quality standpoint, and also from a convenience standpoint. Quite simply, there will be a very limited market for pollinated seed laden buds. About the only foreseeable outlet for outdoor grown pollinated pot would be for industrial production of prepackaged rolled product. For those who choose bongs, bowls, vaporizers, edibles, ect. or to roll their own, they will opt for seedless.

The other reason why there will not widespread open air production of it is because there is no way to adequately secure a field from poachers. It would be too easy, and extremely unacceptable for under aged kids to stroll into a field and pick at leisure.

Realistically there will never be legal outdoor "flower pot" gardens for the average Joe (without substantial precautions to insure minors cannot poach). If this were allowed to happen, then there is NO control over the product, and NO safeguards to keep it out of the hands of children.

IF hobby growing were allowed, it would occur indoors, or within a greenhouse, and would be a substantial expense, as well as requiring a very high level of dedication and attention. Hobby production will be very limited, and will have almost no impact on the market as a whole.

Re: Marijuana farming rebounds in economic hard times

Anyone that wants to see what industrial hemp looks like, check out along the side of I-80 in parts of Illinois you will see plenty of it. During WW11, we needed a fiber that could be used in the manufacturing of cloth products…so,the law that was put into effect banning hemp in 1937 was lifted.

The results of the lifting of the ban can be seen when you pull off of interstate 80 to this day. Almost anyplace along that stretch of Northern Illinois and parts of Iowa. Several mills for extracting the fiber were constructed in northern Illinois by the federal government. Get this, during the war the government subsidized industrial hemp, kinda sounds like the ethanol fiasco to me.

“I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to remain flexible at all times.”

Re: Marijuana farming rebounds in economic hard times

Originally Posted by marduc

While your defense that extended supervision is required is valid, it also contains a few inaccuracies.

The THC content is extremely dependent on the genetics of the plant. The reason "ditch weed" is so low in THC content is because they are remnants from when hemp was grown legally, and prolifically. Hemp is genetically predisposed to have an extremely low THC content.

Grown outdoors, the photo-period trigger to initiate flowering occurs naturally as the days grow longer with the changing of the seasons, this requires no supervision.

Aside from this, production of a bountiful crop will take supervision, removing the males, fertilizing, pruning ect. all will be required to provide a high quality yield.

To further bolster your point, in a post legalization world the vast majority of recreational cannabis will be grown in greenhouses. The main reason for this is because pollination of the females is extremely undesirable. If planted outdoors and left to mature the plants will get pollinated, and will produce seeds. Grown outdoors there is absolutely no way to prevent pollination.

The production of seeds will sap vital plant energy that would otherwise go towards fattening the buds and increasing yield.

More significantly, consumers will demand seedless, both from a quality standpoint, and also from a convenience standpoint. Quite simply, there will be a very limited market for pollinated seed laden buds. About the only foreseeable outlet for outdoor grown pollinated pot would be for industrial production of prepackaged rolled product. For those who choose bongs, bowls, vaporizers, edibles, ect. or to roll their own, they will opt for seedless.

The other reason why there will not widespread open air production of it is because there is no way to adequately secure a field from poachers. It would be too easy, and extremely unacceptable for under aged kids to stroll into a field and pick at leisure.

Realistically there will never be legal outdoor "flower pot" gardens for the average Joe (without substantial precautions to insure minors cannot poach). If this were allowed to happen, then there is NO control over the product, and NO safeguards to keep it out of the hands of children.

IF hobby growing were allowed, it would occur indoors, or within a greenhouse, and would be a substantial expense, as well as requiring a very high level of dedication and attention. Hobby production will be very limited, and will have almost no impact on the market as a whole.

I agree completely, and thank you for extrapolating. I was simply giving the basics, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one with a green thumb!